What an honour . . . or was it?

Were your ancestors freemen of the City of Saint John?
 

Y
ears ago, I was going through index cards searching for information on the Cusack family. I found reference to William, James and Timothy Cusack being made freemen of the City of Saint John. This certainly was a thrilling piece of news to me.

As I rode the bus home, I was smiling from ear to ear. My husband was never going to believe this!

I cooked supper, anxiously waiting for him to arrive. When I heard his car in the driveway, I rushed to meet him, with the exciting information of his ancestors.

During supper we discussed the possibilities of what important positions they had held to be given this great honour. As the weeks progressed, we told and retold the relatives about their three prestigious ancestors being made freemen of the City of Saint John.

Facts have a way of breaking our bubbles. Imagine my surprise, when I found out that William Cusack had paid money to obtain a freeman's certificate that classified him as a cartman in the City of Saint John. James and Timothy paid for a certificate to be draymen.

If you are interested on more information on this topic, I suggest you read the book "Saint John, The Making of a Colonial Urban Community" by T.W. Acheson.

For family history researchers, the thrill of finding lists of names is akin to that felt by kids in a candy store.

The "Register of Voters for the Purpose of the Elections of Mayor, Aldermen, Councillors and Constables of the City of Saint John" gives hundreds of names.

The list was prepared by the common clerk of the city, from the records of the "City Freemen" and from the last "General Assessment List Files" in the common clerk's office. The city freemen records include the years 1785 until 1861.

Two other great lists of names are published in "A Schedule of Real Estate on the Western Side of the Harbour and in the Parish of Lancaster belonging to the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of Saint John with a statement of the Annual Income and at present arising therefrom. Prepared by order of the Common Council September 1860," and "A Schedule of Real Estate on the Eastern Side of Harbour, belonging to the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty, of the City of Saint John, with a statement of the Annual Income, at present arising therefrom. Prepared by Thomas Coram, Land Agent. Published by order of the Common Council, August 16, 1861."

These lists are available for viewing at the Library and Archives of the New Brunswick Museum, Douglas Avenue.
 

Ruby Cusack is a genealogy buff living in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Readers are invited to send their New Brunswick genealogical queries to Ruby at rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca. When E-Mailing please put Yesteryear Families in the Subject line. Please include in the query, your name and postal address as someone reading the newspaper, may have information to share with you but not have access to E-mail. Queries should be no more than 45 words in length.

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